Thomas j



(No Model.) V Y T. J. SPEAK.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRAGTING THE FIBERS OF JUTE AND GQTTON PLANTS.

WITNESSES TTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS J. SPEAR, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND OAMILLE E. GlRA-RDEY, OF SAME PLACE.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING THE FIBERS F JUTE AND COTTON PLANTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 275,953, dated April 17, 1883.

Application filed October 24, 1882. (No model.) J

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAs J. SPEAR, of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and Improved Method of and Apparatus for Separating theFibers of Jute and Cotton Plants, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to separate and prepare the fibers of jute andother plants for use in the manufacture of paper, bagging, &c.; and it consists in the process hereinafter described, and also in certain machinery used in the process of breaking the stalks and separating the fibers.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, which is a sectional side view of the machinery used for preparation of the fibers.

In carrying out my process the stalks are used either green or dry. The tops being first removed, they are passed between two plain rollers, as shown at c a,.which act to flatten out the stalks and partially break them, and to remove the juices therefrom. They are next passed between the corrugated rollers shown at 11 DJ), which act to break the woody substance of the stalk, so that it maybe more readily separated from the fibers. The next O 3 a series of rollers for the separation of the woody materials from the bark. These rollers (shown at 0) will have either plain or corru-' gated surfaces, according to the nature of the 3 5 material, so that they act to flatten out the crushed stalks and insure a complete separation of the fibers. The material is then placed in vats filled with hot water; or steam may be applied for the purpose of rotting the bark; but in the case of dry stalks, when they are too dry to be rotted, the steaming operation will be omitted, and the process will be complete after the stalks have been passed through the break-mill. The bark may be prepared either for use in the manufacture of paper or the manufacture of bagging and other fabrics. This process may be applied for the separa. tion of either jute or cotton plant fibers, and in the manufacture of bagging the two fibers may be combined so as to obtain cloth of greater strength than can be made of jute fiber alone. I prefer to cut the jute-plant for step in the process is to pass the stalks through this purpose at the time of blossom. The rotting operation should be continued usually for about ten or twelve days, or until the fibers 5 are entirely free. In placing them in the vats the ribbons, as they come from the break mill, will be tied together in bundles, so that they may be conveniently handled and examined; and I remark that the rotting operation may be accomplished without heat; but it will require a longer time for complete separation of the fibers.

It will be observed that in my process the usual process of rotting first and then disin- 6 tegrating the material is reversed, and that I disintegrate first, and then rot. By this reversal of the ordinary process the rotting process is expedited, as the hot water or steam can more readily permeate and obtain access to the fibers of the material in a disintegrated condition than before disintegration.

I am aware thata fiber-cleaning machine in which the stalks are first passed through a pair of corrugated break rolls and thence 7 5 through a pair of plain compressorrolls has heretofore been employed, and I therefore'lay no claim to such construction, my invention being confined to the construction and arrangement of the rolls as set forth in'the sec- 0nd claim.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isg l. The herein-described process for the separation of the long fibers of fibrous plants for textile and other analogous uses, which consists in first removing the juice from and fiattening or crushing the stalks to loosen the fibers from the woody substances, and then o separating the fibers by rotting, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for disintegrating jute and cotton plants, the combination, with the plain flattening-rollers a c and plain or corrugated 9 5 separating-rollers c c, of the corrugated breakin g-rollers b b, arranged between the flattening and separating rollers, and having the upper break-roller, 1), arranged above and between the lower break-rollers, b b.

THOMAS JEFFERSON SPEAK.

Witnesses:

BUssIERE RoUEN, J AMES J. WoULEE. 

